KRP: Home / News Article: Keith Comes Home With KRP

Keith Comes Home With KRP

All Articles, KRP Communications

June 11th, 2009 / All Articles, KRP Communications

 

Keith Comes Home With KRP
By Amanda Fraser

Keith Macdonald, a Cape Bretoner, is making his way back home to open a branch of the business he started 11 years ago.

The president and ceo of KRP Communications recently opened an office at 1959

Upper Water Street and employs two people. Over the next three years, he says that number will grow to 12, employing a mix of administrative and engineering staff.

KRP earns between $3 million to $5 million in sales annually, and provides software installation, and voice and data communications systems for call centres and schools. Macdonald is also hoping to expand his customer base to include more private enterprises.

“I think there’s a great business opportunity to expand into the Maritimes. A large number of contact centres are located in the Maritime provinces and our technology is suited well to contact centres. It’s a great opportunity to relocate and get back to my roots”, said the native of Point Edward.

Locally, KRP currently works with the internal IT team at accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton LLP in Halifax to manage its telecommunications systems. KRP also services TigerTel Communications Ltd, a national company with a call centre in Dartmouth.

Internationally, it recently installed a telecommunications system at Portland Community College in Oregon to handle 4,500 telephone and fax lines, and all of its call centre operations. The college has about 87,000 students.

The software KRP installs “typically replaces up to four different manufacturers in an organization so we’re classified as an all-in-one solution”, said Macdonald, who started his career with Maritime Tel and Tel as a summer student.

With 25 employees in offices in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Toronto and Burnaby, BC, KRP’s headquarters, Macdonald counts his competition as Nortel and Cisco, and Bell Aliant in Atlantic Canada.

“We are small and nimble,” he said, which allows his company to be “more in tune with every day demand of customers”.